本帖最后由 CoolMax 于 2012-2-22 15:08 编辑
Apple defended its right to use the iPad trademark in China in a heated court
hearing Wednesday that pitted the electronics giant against a struggling company
that denies it sold the mainland China rights to the tablet's name.
Shenzhen Proview Technology's lawyer Xie Xianghui argued that the sale of the
iPad trademark to Apple Inc. by Proview's Taiwan affiliate in 2009 was
invalid.
"Apple has no right to sell iPads under that name," Xie said. Apple countered
that Proview violated the sales contract by failing to transfer the trademark
rights in mainland China.
It also contends that the Chinese LCD maker has not marketed or sold its own
"IPAD," or Internet Personal Access Device for years, thus possibly invalidating
its claim to the trademark.
The hearing adjourned after a fractious four-hour session which saw the judge
repeatedly admonishing both sides to observe proper court protocol as they
argued across the courtroom. No date was announced for a judgment or further
hearings.
Proview is suing to stop Apple selling the iPad in China under that name. It
has also asked commercial authorities in many cities to stop sales of the
device. So far, iPads have been pulled from shelves in some Chinese cities but
there has been no sign of action at the national level.
Ma Dongxiao, another Proview lawyer, said after the hearing that the company
plans to file lawsuits against Apple in more cities.
As evidence in court, Proview presented a flat, thin computer packed in a
cardboard box that it said is its "IPAD."
The company's lawyers argued the success of the iPad had prevented Proview's
product from succeeding in China. Apple's side noted that the iPad only began
selling in 2010, long after Proview launched its product in 2000.
Apple's attorneys said that stopping iPad sales in China would cause the
company huge losses. The tablet's popularity has benefited China through tax
revenues and jobs created in its manufacturing, they said.
"They have no market, no sales, no customers. They have nothing," Apple
lawyer Qu Miao said of Proview. "The iPad is so popular that it is in short
supply. We have to consider the public good."
That, Xie said, is irrelevant.
"Whether people will go hungry because you can't sell iPads in China is not
the issue(very nice people, ouch! - CM)," he said. "The court must rule according to the law. Do you
absolutely have to sell the product? Can't you sell it using a different
name?"
The trademark case is highlighting mixed attitudes toward Apple in China.
Chinese are just as crazy about iPads and iPhones as consumers anywhere else and
the devices are manufactured in China, employing hundreds of thousands of
people.
But public awareness has been growing of criticism over the labor and
environmental practices of huge factories that assemble the devices. Taiwan's
Foxconn Technology Group, which makes iPads in China, has been under intense
scrutiny after a spate of worker suicides. It recently raised wages by up to 25
percent in the second major salary hike in less than two years.
Apple has appealed an earlier ruling in favor of Proview in a court in
Shenzhen, a city in southern China's Guangdong province. The Guangdong High
Court is due to hear that case on Feb. 29.
Xie on Tuesday said that since no final decisions have been reached in
various legal disputes over the issue, both sides were "still able to sit
together and reach an out-of-court settlement." Apple has shown no indication of
willingness to settle.
The current trademark battle is unlikely to have much effect on sales of the
iPad 2 but could affect future iterations of the device, said Xu Jia, chief
editor of the Chinese magazine PC Home.
"It could affect a future iPad 3," Xu said. "If the official products are
banned from being sold in China, we will see how the products in the black
market start to have very good sales."
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, insists it holds the trademark rights
to the iPad in China, having purchased them from Proview for 35,000 British
pounds ($55,000) through a company set up for that purpose.
A court in Hong Kong, which has a separate legal system from mainland China,
ruled in July that Proview had acted with the intention of "injuring Apple."
Proview's lawyers argued Wednesday that any rulings in Hong Kong were not
admissible in Chinese courts |